Collocutor

“The Search”

Review

‘The Search’ from Collocutor, the band’s second LP, is the story of a journey, from disillusionment to new beginnings, alienation to belonging, darkness to hope. It is a journey that can be interpreted as spiritual, emotional or physical/geographical, depending on the listener’s own experiences. Tamar Osborn, the band leader and composer says: “This wasn’t planned as a ‘concept’ album, but as the four main compositions developed they and their titles fell into a natural narrative order and the theme of the album became apparent. The three improvised Conversations were an opportunity to explore musically the meaning of ‘collocutor’ - a person taking part in a conversation - and how this applies to performance, and also to expand the textural range of the ensemble by dividing it into smaller groupings and freeing the musicians from structured composition.” The album had already been listed by The Vinyl Factory as one of their “Best new vinyl releases to look out for in 2017”, and has gained the enthusiastic support of icons such as Gilles Peterson, Mulatu Astatke and many others. Collocutor have The 2017 Mercury Awards submission in their sights and The Search could well have jazz breaching the shortlist yet again. Tamar Osborn has kicked off 2017 appearing at the Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide Awards 2017 alongside Ninja Tune’s Sarathy Korwar: an incredible performance that set the tone of one of the most important celebrations of independent music. Collocutor’s sound has also graced the ears of the diverse audience that gathered to the Church of Sound last week (2/2/2017), with the band performing music from Yussef Lateef’s songbook as well as receiving a rapturous ovation for The Search. A sold-out concert, a moment of magic at Hackney’s historic St. James the Great church, the new go-to destination for London jazz lovers that will be followed quickly by a headline performance at The Jazz Cafe. Established in 2013, On The Corner Records has rapidly established itself